Recent viewings

[SkullBat308]

Orphan- Very creepy and I liked it, especially the performance from the actress who played Esther but I was saying "Awwww come on!" and "What the F!" quite a bit.

[JaseSF]

Godzilla Raids Again (1955): Shoichi Tsukioka (Hiroshi Koizuma) and Kôji Kobayashi (Minoru Chiaki) are scout pilots working for a local fishing cannery. They fly small planes in search of schools of fish for their cannery's fishing fleet. When Kobayashi is forced to make an emergency landing on an island and Tsukioka comes to his rescue, both are shocked to find a new Godzilla and another mysterious giant monster, later known as Anguirus, battling one another. Upon their return to the mainland, they report their findings and Japan braces itself for yet another possible assault similar to the one the original Godzilla previously unleashed upon Tokyo. Only now there's a second monster Anguirus to contend with as well! Sure enough, the monsters do eventually take their heated rivalry to mainland Japan.  In the end, the two pilots wind up aiding the air force in a pitched battle against the new Godzilla.

The Japanese version of this, the first direct sequel to Gojira (1954), is much more somber and serious than its Americanized counterpart, a movie first entitled Gigantis, the Fire Monster (1959). There are many scenes in the Japanese version that are more likely to resonant with viewers, quiet scenes that add to the gravity of the situation at hand - the real destructive threat (yet again symbolic of the H-bomb) another Godzilla and this new monster represents to those living in Japan. The scenes of the army planes scouring across the sky as Tsukioka's girlfriend Hidemi Yamaji (Setsuko Wakayama) looks on forlorn are wonderfully done. The Kobayashi character, actually the most personable character in the whole cast, is also a much more sympathetic and fully realized character in this version, something which eventually proves important to the plot. Where the Japanese version falters is that while it has extensive action sequences, the movie often drags along and is, well, kind of dull. The action sequences and sometimes even the more somber scenes seem to go on and on endlessly and sometimes are interceded by other scenes that seriously slow down the action or ill fit within context of what's been previously established by other recent events in the film.

In many ways, this is a retread of the previous Gojira (1954) film but new director Motoyoshi Oda doesn't seem as well equipped when it comes to establishing the proper mood throughout. He shows moments of greatness here and there but it seems scattered and he also fails to elicit as much sympathy for the main three characters here as previous Godzilla director Ishiro Honda did with Dr. Serizawa, Emiko and Ogata. **1/2 out of *****

Godzilla Raids Again (1959) [AKA: Gigantis, the Fire Monster (1959)]:  Shoichi Tsukioka (Hiroshi Koizuma) (in the Americanized version voiced by Keye Luke) and Kôji Kobayashi (Minoru Chiaki) are scout pilots working for a local fishing cannery. They fly small planes in search of schools of fish for their cannery's fishing fleet. When Kobayashi is forced to make an emergency landing on an island and Tsukioka comes to his rescue, both are shocked to find  two mysterious giant monsters, later known as Anguirus and Gigantis, battling one another. Upon their return to the mainland, they report their findings and Japan braces itself for yet another possible assault similar to the one the original Godzilla (now said to have been a Gigantis monster?!) previously unleashed upon Tokyo. Only now there's a second monster Anguirus to contend with as well! Sure enough, the monsters do eventually take their heated rivalry to mainland Japan.  In the end, the two pilots wind up aiding the air force in a pitched battle against Gigantis.

So in this version, Godzilla is basically renamed Gigantis?! Apparently they thought this would avoid confusion since the Godzilla of the first film and this second Godzilla monster actually aren't the same creature which they aren't - this is a brand new second Godzilla. Still most people in the viewing audience would end up even more confused by this name change as it was all too obvious Gigantis was in fact a new Godzilla! The dubbing for this version is atrocious especially as it concerns Kobayashi, a vital character to the plot, who here ends up sounding like a cross of Yogi Bear and Barney Rubble spouting dialogue that makes him sound dumb as a post. Lead Tsukioka doesn't do much better saying "Banana Oil!" at one point?! Plus they also felt the need to add endless and seemingly incessantly annoying talky narration so as to explain everything. Well their ad campaigns did seem to be aired directly and squarely at getting young kids into movie theaters which might explain their reasoning for that perhaps?

Silly as this version is, and few characters here really come off looking well, it might well appeal to bad movie fans who will be astounded by the bizarre stock footage insertions and the cartoony dubbed dialogue which is often laughable. These additions actually change the film quite a bit from the original Japanese version and while this version is a bit more action paced given the continual talk and stock music not to mention the sped up action in some scenes, it's also much more strange and surreal. The ending is changed drastically as here it becomes about Tsukioka finally finding his courage moreso than about honoring the sacrifices of others. From a bad movie fan perspective, **1/2 out of ***** . From a more serious one, *1/2 out of *****

[Jack]

The Creeps (1997) - Watched this again the other night.  A mad scientist wants to reanimate Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and The Mummy, but he needs to get his hands on the original books they came from.  So he goes to the rare book library, and meets our perky librarian.  She's cute.  Anyhow, he steals the books, but his monsters turn out as midgets.  Pint-sized Dracula is played marvelously by Phil Fondacaro.  There's lots of cheesy silliness and a bit of nudity.  Fun movie, in my opinion.  4/5.

[lester1/2jr]

I spit chew on your grave -  I am already a huge Bill Zebub fan, but this gives me a renewed appreciation for his movies.  THis is vey similar to what he does but 1/5 as funny and without the nudity.  There are some funny lines and I think this guy has potential but, come on a mullet wig?

Troll 2-  It's hard not to like this ridiculous and cheap yet now far more famous sequal to some early 80's video boom cash in.  It walks a fine line between an MST3K style disaster like "Pod People" or "Merlins mystical shop of whatever" and Troma like silliness.  It's not as annoying as the latter and not as dull as the former so in general you'd have to say it's really rather entertaining. 

[JaseSF]

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) (Americanized Version): Godzilla is awakened from his icy iceberg slumber when the UN's submarine Seahawk crashes into the glowing 'berg in which he is encased. Godzilla then heads straight for Japan no doubt in hopes of doing some major monster-stomping! Meanwhile on the distant island of Faro, an expedition is sent by Pacific Pharmaceuticals to ape-nape King Kong, the giant monster the natives there worship as a god. Of course this is all designed to lead to the inevitable and expected epic battle between the two giant monsters!

The Americanized version of this movie is just plain silly for the most part. Logic seems in short supply here. In fact, turning off one's brain seems required for much of this film's running time. The army always seems to have a ready supply of whatever is needed at any given time when it comes to dealing with these two giant monsters and seem capable of completing grandiose elaborate schemes and constructing gigantic traps for said monsters in unbelievably quick amounts of time. The dubbed dialogue is beyond laughable with stuff like "My corns hurt whenever I get near a monster", "It's just a lizard - throw it" and "Stop that! You're not Tarzan!"  standing out as more memorable ones.  The scenes on Faro island also feature a lot of actors wearing make-up to make them appear a darker color, certainly a questionable method when it comes to depicting another race of people and one scene actually has one of the film's main heroes giving a cigarette, of course said item used to ply the natives, to a native boy?! The UN scenes, which I suspect may have been inserted solely for the American version, too are ridiculous in that they seem loaded to the gills with phoney pseudo-science babble the most laughable of which is that apes and lizards are natural enemies?! King Kong sadly looks pretty shabby here as the Kong suit looks moth-eaten and sort of goofy, a pretty disappointing sight given this film came thirty years after his unforgettable stop-motion debut.

But this does deliver the goods where it counts some might argue. Particularly effective is the final monster battle showdown atop Mt. Fuji. Just a knockout drag-out battle between the two giant monster titans - King Kong and Godzilla. The suit actors certainly earned their paychecks on this one given how much of a beating both must have taken, especially the actor playing Kong given Kong kept getting singed by fire from Godzilla's breath all the time and the effect seems to have been done rather realistically.  The sound FX are terrific which is very important in many scenes but especially during this final climactic battle. All in all, this proves a surprisingly fun filled film especially for those of us with an high tolerance for zany bad movies.  I do wonder though what the Japanese version of this film is like and whether that version can possibly be as silly? **1/2 out of *****

[3mnkids]

Watched IFC last night


Motel hell~ I loooove this movie. Its so stupid.    My two oldest had never seen it so I let them watch and got the typical response. My daughter loved it, my son hated it.

Turistas~ I liked it. Not  lot of T&A, which I appreciate, not a lot of gore but just enough, and the underwater scenes freaked me out. Its not a great movie but as a "young adults in foreign country get hunted" movie goes it was pretty good.

[lester1/2jr]

Open Secret (1946)-  very nice alpha video offering starring John Ireland.  he is the friend of a guy who gets mixed up with a neo nazi sort of group in what seems to be new york.  It's only 70 minutes long and doesn't have a ton of character development so, kind of hard to give it 5 stars but it gets 4 easy.  the KKK is group is trying to run all the jews out of the neighborhood.  the jewish guy at the photo shop, strauss, is the one we get to know.  They tell him to go back to where he came from and he says "you mean on the next block where I was born?"  on top of all this ethnic tension is a mystery about a murder.  the anti bigotry message doesn't get too heavy handed and it moves well.  check it out. audio is pretty dicey in spots 4/5

[SkullBat308]

Rec- Saw the remake first but thought this was superior. Just have to watch the subtitled version cause the dubbing was terrible, it ruined any creepiness for me. I can tell thought that it would be creepier with the actual actors voices, language and emotions. I have to learn that dubbed versions usually suck.

[Jack]

The Crypt (2009) - A group of burglar babes goes into a tunnel system under the city to steal jewelry out of coffins.  Of course the occupants of those coffins come back as ghosts and menace the girls.  The good:  Hot babes!  The finest one even gives us a quick topless shot.  The bad:  Everything else.  There's no story at all, the ghosts don't even get their obligatory backstory.  Very little character development.  I guess they were trying to rip off The Descent because half the movie is girls crawling through narrow tunnels.  Considering they're all wearing tight tank tops and short shorts, I enjoyed this.  The ghosts themselves are a bit silly looking and just stand around trying to look menacing - this kills any chance of the movie being even minimally scary.  Bad directing, kind of crummy editing, the musical score needed work...I'll be REAL generous and give it a 3/5 because of the babes.  Without them, it wouldn't get more than a 2.

[vukxfiles]

Great, one of Nic's greatest performances. I love films which have to do with underground porn, snuff and perverts. 9/10


Although this is a cheesy flick, how can you not like something with KILLER SLUGS?? Many moments reminded me of The Blob. 6/10


Great performance by Stallone, Banderas and Moore, although it has very typical moments for this kind of genre. I loved the waiting thing, I thought Banderas's character was going to just randomly shoot someone out of boredom. 7/10

[lester1/2jr]

captain kronos vampire hunter- mostly boring later era Hammer.  not alot going on. doesn't move well.  a young caroline munroe looks great but the star guy is annoying because he has no faults and everyone just worships him and he never loses.  it just makes the fact that he looks like one of the bee gees all the more apparent.  for hardcore hammer/ anglophiles only. 2/5

[UKLN8860]

 

[SPazzo]

Serenity (2005).   AMAZING!!! I love the Firefly TV series.  I also hate Fox..

[InformationGeek]

The Benchwarmers: It's one of my favorite comedies.  There are a lot so stupid that it is funny moments and a couple of legit funny scenes.  I also like the message and the geekdom in it.  It isn't for everyone though.

[Rev. Powell]

HOUSE OF THE DEAD (2003):  My first Uwe Boll, and I was neither disappointed nor blown away.  A bunch of college graduates (yeah, sure) go to an island for a rave and find its been overrun by zombies created by an undead pirate, or something.  Sloppily made with no characterization and terrible continuity, but it's never boring, and the Matrix-style music video zombie slaughter is so overdone it plays like a parody of the first-person shooter mentality. For bad movies fans, I'd have to say this is at least a solid 2.5/5.  It's got nudity, senseless violence, and laughably inane dialogue; what's not to like?